EXCLUSIVE: MTV revives live daytime show

New series 'The Seven' will focus on celebrities, pop culture

Tony DiSanto

MTV is reviving the live daytime show with a series targeting celebrities and pop culture.

Studio-based countdown show "The Seven" will air weekdays from Times Square beginning Sept. 27 and represents the latest evolution in the format from the network that pioneered the genre with "Total Request Live."

The half-hour show presents seven stories that MTV viewers need to know, from Hollywood news, music, sex and fashion to other topics. E! veteran Steve Tseckares will executive produce.

"It's been a big goal of mine to get us back into the live-series business," said MTV programming president Tony DiSanto, who co-created "TRL" in 1998. "I wanted to get into day-and-date topical programming, and there's just something about having a live show during a time of day where everything else is pretaped."

Unlike "TRL," which went off the air two years ago, and last year's short-lived "It's On With Alexa Chung," "Seven" will air later in the afternoon, 5 p.m., reflecting MTV research that indicates kids are coming home from school later than ever before.

"Seven" will have two hosts: Kevin Manno, a DJ from Chicago who hosts a nightly show for top-rated station Q101 (WKQX-FM), and Julie Alexandria, a pop culture and sports fan who hosts the East Coast-based cable show "Mets Weekly."

Music performances and interviews also will be featured, Tseckares said.

"We're the only show in this space looking at 12- to 24-year-olds," he said. [Canadian hip-hop artist] Drake is someone who would appear on this show but wouldn't appear on any other show that's on in the early evening."

No episode count is set. Based on his experience with "TRL," DiSanto expects the series will evolve considerably after its first episode.

"These shows develop and build on air," he said. "You just go for it, and know it's going to be a different show three months from now than it is today, and that's OK."